Tashan Cave a new cave fish locality for Iran; and Garra tashanensis, a new blind species from the Tigris River drainage (Teleostei: Cyprinidae)

Hamed MOUSAVI-SABET, Saber VATANDOUST, Yaser FATEMI, Soheil EAGDERI

Abstract

A new cave fish locality is reported for Iran, and the first true cave species is described from the Tigris River drainage. Garra tashanensis, new species, from Tashan Cave, the Tigris River drainage in Iran, is distinguished from its congeners by the combination of characters, including lacking pigment and eyes, having a well-developed round mental disc, two pairs of barbels, a well-developed rostral cap, no obvious pores on lateral line, and rare scales on anterior body. Garra tashanensis sp. nov. furthers differs substantially in its DNA barcode from the subterranean congeners (K2P nearest-neighbor distance of 10.4% to G. lorestanensis and 11.8% to G. typhlops).

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